As recently reported in the Courier, around £3.4 million of further budget cuts are to be considered by the SNP-run administration on Dundee City Council.
As I indicated in the Courier, I would take issue with the claim that the grant settlement is better than anticipated. Anyone looking objectively at the actual settlements announced by the SNP government for each authority can see that Dundee has a cash terms cut when other councils have seen a cash terms increase. The SNP government has badly let down Dundee in terms of its disappointing settlement for Dundee City Council.
The SNP continually blames Westminster for everything but the reality is that the SNP Finance Cabinet Secretary John Swinney has a budget that is in real terms billions higher than that available to the Scottish Government when the parliament was first established in 1999. The suggestion that £3.4 million of further cuts is somehow “good news” is spin and an attempt at “news management” by the SNP administration. Had the SNP Finance Secretary treated Dundee in a more equitable manner, we would not be looking at this level of cuts by the Dundee SNP administration.
What is now vital is that front-line services such as Education and Social Work do not fall victim to the further SNP cuts. I will be working positively with other councillors in the run-up to the council budget being set on 9th February to minimise the effect of further budget reductions.